


Blowing Off Steam

by Smediterranea



Series: A Heated Exchange [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Nerdiness, One Shot, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Smut, What's up with that hot guy down the hall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:41:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25153354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smediterranea/pseuds/Smediterranea
Summary: This wasn’t like Katara. Karata was responsible. Katara was organized. Some people might call her a wet blanket, but Katara knew the value of putting work before fun. She had her priorities in order.Katara had not considered herself to be someone who would have earth-shattering sex with a guy whose name she didn’t even know. But here she was, certain that she had never made a better decision in her life.An AU one-shot of Katara getting familiar with a certain handsome guy who lives down the hall.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: A Heated Exchange [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1869856
Comments: 49
Kudos: 894





	Blowing Off Steam

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a one-shot that wasn't actually 10,000 words long! Miracles never cease.

This wasn’t like Katara. Karata was responsible. Katara was organized. Some people might call her a wet blanket, but Katara knew the value of putting work before fun. She had her priorities in order.

Katara had not considered herself to be someone who would have earth-shattering sex with a guy whose name she didn’t even know. But here she was, rounding the bend on her third orgasm of the night, certain that she had never made a better decision in her life.

The man in question who was providing her with such toe-curling pleasure lived down the hall from her. She had seen him around campus plenty of times; he had been in her freshman biology class, but that course had had three hundred students in it, so she never learned his name. She had seen him coming home from the gym a few times, once having already taken his shirt off before he entered the apartment building. He was a tall and brooding sort of man, with a mysterious scar that slashed over the left side of his face. Katara could tell he didn’t like people staring at it — she wouldn’t either, if she was in his shoes — but she never thought it detracted from his good looks. She was well aware of this handsome stranger, but she had never even talked to him before that morning.

Katara had been folding her laundry in the basement when the mystery man entered with his own basket. Katara was trying to drag out this chore as long as possible. She was desperately bored, but even folding laundry was more appealing than her physics homework. She figured the mystery man might enjoy some morning chitchat; she certainly could use some.

“Hi!” she said brightly. “I’m Katara. You live on the third floor, right? 3B? I live in 3G.”

The man froze, staring at her with wide eyes.

“What?” Katara asked, concerned. “Is something wrong?”

“Uh, no,” the man said awkwardly. “I didn’t realize you knew where I lived.”

Katara flushed.

“Oh, uh… I’m not like a stalker or anything. I just noticed you live there. In a neighborly way.”

The man continued to stare at her. Fortunately, the moment was interrupted by Katara’s roommate, Suki.

“Hey, Katara, are you down there?”

“Yes!” Katara called up the stairs. “What’s up?”

“We’re gonna go out tonight. You in?”

“I have to study,” Katara said. “But maybe when I’m done?”

“Okay, sure.”

The door closed and Suki’s footsteps retreated overhead. When Katara turned back to the mystery man, he was smirking.

“Studying on a Friday night?”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Katara said waspishly. “I have midterms next week.”

“So why not go out? Blow off some steam before you have to hit the books?”

“I don’t need to blow off steam,” Katara said primly, folding her t-shirts with as much dignity as she could muster.

The man made a scoffing sound that set Katara’s hackles up.

“You don’t know me! I’m a fun person!”

If anything, the man seemed amused by her anger.

“Okay,” he said with a shrug. “If you say so.”

Katara, suddenly furious, had thrown her remaining clothes into her laundry basket, still unfolded. She stormed off, leaving the handsome man behind.

_No,_ she thought. _Not handsome. Annoying. Really rude and annoying._

Katara had spent the rest of the day in high dudgeon. She could be fun! She just had lots of work to do, that was all. She had to keep up her grades for her future career’s sake. So what if she missed a few parties? She didn’t even drink, so most of them were boring anyway. All of her friends were taken, so meeting cute guys wasn’t usually a priority either. Katara had to admit, she did miss having a boyfriend to distract her with kisses, but she hadn’t found someone whose kisses were distracting enough in a long time. Perhaps this was why she was so annoyed every time she pictured the mystery man’s smirking — and annoyingly handsome — face.

As night falls, Katara continues to work on her homework, waving goodbye as Suki leaves to meet up with their friends. Katara promises herself that if she finishes all her work, she can join them, so she tries her best to stay focused. It’s barely eleven by the time she finishes, and Katara, satisfied with her work, decides that for once she’ll go out instead of going to bed.

She takes care to dress herself, slipping into her one risqué party dress. The dress has a collection of geometric cutouts in the back, so Katara forgoes a bra and lets the tightness of the dress hold her in place. She skips underwear altogether; the fabric stretches smoothly over the expanse of her backside, and she’s never found the right panties that don’t leave any lines. It’s more fun this way, in Katara’s opinion, being practically naked out in public. 

She pulls her hair out of its usual braid, making some minor adjustments to the waves that cascade down her back. She’s not usually one for makeup, but she adds some touches here and there to bring out the blue in her eyes and the glow of her tanned skin. She tops the look with a pair of heels that she rarely wears. She teeters a bit if she doesn’t walk carefully, so it is probably for the best that she doesn’t drink. The bars are only a half-mile away, but it will be a slightly treacherous journey.

She sashays down the apartment’s hallway like a catwalk, fa powerful mix of confidence and rebellion fueling her strut. As she reaches the end of the hall, apartment 3B catches her eye. Feeling reckless, she knocks.

The mystery man answers the door with an annoyed look. He takes in Katara’s appearance and his expression changes to one of surprise, his mouth slightly hanging open. Katara feels a rush of satisfaction. It is tempered only by the fact that although the man is dressed plainly in sweatpants and a threadbare t-shirt, he looks as handsome as ever. At least now Katara is at eye-level with him thanks to her dangerously high heels.

“See?” Katara says smugly. “I can be fun. I go out.”

The mystery man scowls in disbelief.

“I never said you weren’t fun. And going out to clubs doesn’t mean you’re a fun person. Those places suck.”

Katara’s anger flares again.

“You were making fun of me this morning for not blowing off steam! What, is going out with friends not good enough? There’s a right and wrong way to enjoy myself?”

“Whoa, chill out,” the man says, looking slightly alarmed. “I just meant studying on a Friday night seemed like you were working too hard. I see you in the library like, all the time.”

Katara raises an eyebrow and the man flushes.

“Not in a stalker way,” he mumbles, echoing Katara’s earlier words. “In like, a neighborly way.”

Katara’s anger softens. 

“Well, I’m not studying anymore. Happy?”

“Sure,” the man says, still looking a bit afraid of her.

Katara takes a step back to head out for the night, but her heels betray her. Her foot slips and her ankle twists sharply.

“Ow! Fuck!”

She balances precariously on one foot, swaying to stay upright. The man springs forward to grab hold of her before she falls.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s fine,” Katara grits out. “Just a little twist.”

The man frowns.

“Is your ride coming to pick you up? You can come inside while you wait — I’ve got ice packs and stuff.”

“I was going to walk,” Katara says, gingerly putting weight back on her foot. “See? I’m fine.”

She limps slightly as she tests her gait. The man looks unimpressed.

“You are _not_ walking all the way down to Main Street like that. Come on, I’ll call you a ride.”

“I can take the bus!” Katara protests. 

Just because she’s broke and doesn’t want to pay out the nose for a Friday night rideshare doesn’t mean she doesn’t have her pride. No way is she letting this guy pay for her to go out after she basically accosted him in his own apartment to prove she was ‘fun.’

“You are not getting on a _bus_ dressed like that.”

Katara lets out an indignant squawk.

“I can handle myself!”

“Sure you can,” the man says with shrug. “But do you really want to sit on a bus seat in a dress that short?”

Katara glares, but he has a good point. Who knew what was on the bus seats at this time of night?

The man waves her towards an old couch and goes to fetch an icepack. Katara meekly accepts it. Her ankle didn’t hurt that much, but after years of soccer injuries, it has a tendency to flare up if she doesn’t ice it right away.

The man whips out his phone.

“So, where are you headed?”

“Uh, I don’t know.”

Katara had been planning on texting Suki as she walked over to the bars, figuring that by the time she arrived, Suki would have texted her with their location. She explains this to the man as she tries to reach Suki.

“Okay,” the man says, unphased. “Well, you’re welcome to stay here and ice your foot until she texts you back.”

“You really don’t have to do this,” Katara protests. “I was being ridiculous coming here. I can just go back to my apartment.”

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I was kind of a jerk to you this morning. You were trying to be nice to me. Most people aren’t.”

Katara looks at him, concerned.

“People are mean to you?”

The man shrugs, looking uncomfortable to have revealed this.

“I think it’s the scar. People think I’m mean, so they’re just mean to me first, you know?”

“But that’s stupid!” Katara bursts out. “If anything, they should be nice to you. For all they know, you got that scar saving a bunch of puppies from a burning building!”

The man stares at her for a second and then bursts out laughing. He settles down next to her on the couch.

“If you think that’s what happened, I’m not going to correct you.”

Katara suddenly feels shy. She has never seen the man smile before, and it’s an arresting sight. His legs are slightly splayed as he sits on the couch, his knee close to hers. She wonders if he can tell just how handsome she thinks he is.

“So,” Katara asks, trying to distract herself from the man’s smile. “If you spend your Friday nights doing things more interesting than studying, what are you up to?”

He grimaces, nodding his head towards the television in front of them.

“I’m afraid you got the wrong impression of me. I’m just binging on Netflix — not exactly the most fun Friday night plans either.”

“What are you watching?”

The man flushes. Katara can feel her heart rate spike.

“Planet Earth,” he mumbles.

“Oh!” Katara exclaims. She somehow finds this admission ridiculously sexy. A man watching nature documentaries in his free time pushes a _lot_ of Katara’s buttons. She tries to pull herself together enough to add, “I love Planet Earth. Which episode?”

“Jungles,” the man says, looking slightly relieved to not be teased.

“Can I watch it with you?”

“Uh, sure.”

The man hits play, and hits a light switch. The room is bathed in the dazzling green light of the jungle leaves as they watch birds of paradise perform elaborate dances.

After several minutes, Katara discreetly checks her phone. Still no word from Suki.

“This is probably more fun than going out,” she says when the man shoots her a curious look. “These birds are way better dancers than most guys out there.”

The man chuckles. A frission of lust shoots through her, and suddenly she is acutely reminded that she is wearing nothing under her tight dress.

“Still no word from your friend?” he asks.

“No, she’s probably busy sucking my brother’s face.”

Katara notices the surprised expression on the man’s face and she hastens to explain.

“Suki is dating my brother. We all hang out together a lot but they usually take advantage of alone time when I’m not around. Which is good — I don’t want to see them making out, even if they are a cute couple.”

“Makes sense,” the man says easily.

“Do you have a roommate?” Katara asks.

“Yeah, but he’s got a girlfriend. They just started dating a few weeks ago, and she has her own place, so I basically haven’t seen him in like a month.”

“That might be nice, having the place to yourself.”

“Yeah,” the man says with another shrug. “Gets boring sometimes, though. But on the upside, I can watch whatever I want. He usually wanted to watch those Marvel movies. I mean, they’re entertaining, but there are only so many time you can watch Iron Man before you start getting sick of Robert Downey Jr.”

Katara giggles. The man looks pleased at her reaction.

They turn back to the screen, where the focus switches to fungi. The narration starts to talk about a parasitic fungus and Katara squirms.

“This is so cool, but so _gross_ ,” she whispers.

The man says nothing, but he gives her another grin. Katara fidgets so that their knees are touching, and doesn’t move away. The man doesn’t pull away either. 

Katara tests the waters with painstakingly slow movements. She lifts her hand casually onto her leg, then lets it drop so it touches his. She watches the man out of the corner of her eye, noticing a slight clench in his jaw. She tries to puzzle if this is a good thing or not when he leans towards her, lifting his arm over the back of the couch. Katara adjusts her weight to press lightly into his side, and his arm slowly lowers to wrap around her shoulders. Katara, seized with a sudden boldness, flexes her fingers over the man’s thigh. 

He turns to face her with an intense expression. For a moment, Katara thinks she has overstepped, but the man’s gaze drops to her lips, transfixed for a moment before he presses forward.

Now _this_ is the type of kiss that can distract her from her textbooks.

Not only is the man ridiculously handsome, but he also smells heavenly. Katara gives a sigh of contentment, and the arm around her shoulders drops to her waist, pulling her in tightly. Still feeling a heady rush of recklessness, Katara kicks off the icepack on her ankle and twists her body, straddling the man’s hips. He pulls away to look up at her, awestruck, before she surges forward for another kiss. 

The soothing voice of David Attenborough continues to narrate — something about elephants now — but Katara is completely focused on the groans of the man beneath her. She feels powerful and sexy, more than she has in a long time. It’s fun to make a man melt between her fingers. After a few minutes, he has her melting, too, his hands teasing her breasts and sliding up her legs. She can feel the hard length of him poking into her, and finally she can’t take the tension anymore.

“Bedroom?” she pants.

The man nods, his eyes wide. For all his good looks, Katara gets the sense that he doesn’t use them all that often to pick up women. He seems slightly dazed by his good fortune; Katara finds this hopelessly endearing.

Walking into the man’s bedroom is a little disorienting. The layout of the apartment is the same as Katara’s, and even the room is arranged in the same way, with the bed on the left and a desk on the right. Perhaps this familiar setup is why Katara feels bold enough to get undressed. She makes sure the man is watching her from the doorway as she reaches back to unzip her dress. It’s too tight to get out of without a bit of wriggling, but the look on his face is worth it when she stands before him entirely nude. His jaw hangs agape as his eyes rake up and down her body. 

“Wow,” the man breathes. “You are beautiful.”

Katara is glad it is dark. She has hardly ever blushed so much before. She knew she wasn’t bad looking — most days, she thought she was pretty cute — but _beautiful_ was a special compliment. Men had called her pretty, or cute, or even sexy, but few had ever said she was _beautiful_ before.

“Condoms?” she asks, trying to deflect from her embarrassment.

The man nods.

“Side table. Can I go down on you first?”

Katara blinks, surprised.

“Uh, sure?”

The man strides across the room to pull her in for another searing kiss. Katara feels rather weak in the knees as he lowers her onto the bed.

She wants to warn him that those before him had never quite succeeded in this act, but he looks so determined that she decides to stay quiet. Who knew — maybe this would be the guy to sweep her off her feet.

And this is how Katara ends up having three life-changing orgasms in a row.

The man goes about his task with such zeal that it steals Katara’s breath away. Nobody had ever looked at her like that before, the man’s dark eyes meeting hers as he slides his tongue over her center. His hands snake over her, finding spots she didn’t even know she liked to be teased. Before tonight, Katara would have certainly admitted to enjoying sex, even if it did usually end up satisfying her partner more than her. But this time she is the one who is shaking and falling apart before this man has even removed a single stitch of his clothing.

Finally, he pulls away, the bottom half of his face shining with moisture. He rips off his shirt to wipe it away, tossing it across the room after. He lowers his face to Katara’s, his lips sliding over hers in a sweet and tender kiss. It makes her heart ache — who was this man that called her beautiful, kissed her like she was special, and devoured her like his life depended on it?

Katara regains her composure enough to grab him to her, grinding against his erection. He gives a loud groan that Katara finds supremely satisfying. She grins at him.

“Side table, you said?”

“I got it,” he says, reaching blindly for the drawer. He seems reluctant to take his eyes off Katara’s breasts as she sits up in bed. She laughs and he gives her a sheepish grin.

“You are really beautiful,” he says shyly.

Katara bites her lip.

“You’re really handsome,” she replies. In truth, she would like to repeat his compliment and call _him_ beautiful, but she knows some guys are weird about that. Maybe she’d wait until he was fully naked.

As if reading her mind, the man starts to pull down his sweats. They get dangerously low before he pauses to look at her.

“Uh, I don’t want you to feel pressured or anything,” he says awkwardly.

“I don’t,” Katara replies. “As long as that condom isn’t expired, I would _really_ like to keep going.”

The man grins at her.

“All good,” he says with a smile. He shoves down his sweats and moves to kiss her, but Katara holds him back.

“Hang on,” she says, putting a hand on his chest. “I want to admire you for a minute.”

His face goes bright red, the flush spreading down his neck. Katara can’t help her attraction. This man looks like he was carved from a block of marble and yet seems adorably embarrassed by compliments. Well, Katara could work on that.

“You are gorgeous,” she says appreciatively. “I could look at you all night.”

The man squirms. 

“But,” Katara says with a smile, “I suppose I can admire you after we have sex, too. You really are handsome, you know.”

She moves her hand away and the man pounces forward, growling in her ear. Katara grins as he presses kisses down her chest, moaning with delight.

Katara catches his attention by opening the foil wrapper, and handing him the condom to roll on. They share some nervous giggles as they try to position themselves. They settle with Katara on top. Normally, she lets her partner take the lead, but she’s already done about fifty things outside of what she would consider ‘normal’ for her, so she might as well continue. Besides, this is her favorite position, and the man beneath her looks thrilled just to be present. They both moan loudly as she lowers herself onto him.

Katara wants to start slowly and savor things, but there is a fire growing in her belly. Each thrust stokes the flame higher, and soon she is gasping and trembling, her every nerve singing in pleasure.

The man’s honeyed eyes are fixed on her as she shudders above him. He seems to be cataloging her every move, his mouth slightly open in concentration. Katara gets swept up in the intensity of the moment, blurting out everything that crosses her mind.

“Oh, fuck, that feels good. Yeah, like that… _oh, God, yes_. You are driving me _crazy_. You feel so good inside me, _oh_ …”

The more she talks, the more the man gives her exactly what she wants. She comes twice more before he lets out a final grunt, his bodying bowing against her.

Slowly, Katara untangles herself and they both perform the necessary post-coital cleanup required. Slightly unsure of herself, Katara returns to sit on the bed, feeling self-conscious about her naked body for the first time. The man, however, is giving her the same look of absolute awe from when she had first taken off her dress. This calms her nerves somewhat, and she allows herself to relax back onto the pillows.

She thinks of offering an explanation for her behavior, of telling him that she didn’t usually barge into her neighbors apartments to have enthusiastic sex with them. But what did it matter, really? It wasn’t like Katara regretted her actions. In fact, she was feeling quite pleased with herself. And, after all, her mystery man had been the one to suggest ‘blowing off steam’ earlier. He looked quite happy to have been involved in this pursuit.

Katara rolls over to grab her phone, which she had picked up on her way back from the bathroom. A text from Suki lights up the screen.

_Suki: Whoops, sorry I missed this! Headed of Omashu Pub rn - you in?_

Katara replies.

_Katara: It’s cool. Staying in tonight. Have fun!_

“So,” the man says, making Katara jump. “Are you, uh, still going to meet up with your friends then?”

“I could,” Katara says, eyeing the man’s expression carefully. “But I think I’d rather stay here with you.”

The man gives her a heart-stopping grin.

“Well, we haven’t finished that episode of Planet Earth yet,” he says jokingly.

“Yes,” Katara says, pressing herself against him. “Although I wouldn’t be opposed to taking some breaks from binging it. This was pretty fun.”

He wraps his arms around her, kissing her soundly. Katara’s heart flutters.

“I’m Zuko, by the way,” he says as he pulls away.

“Zuko,” she repeats with a grin. “Nice to meet you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
